If your computer or laptop that perfectly recognized the flash drive suddenly stopped recognizing it, “doesn’t see it point blank” or began to recognize it as an “unknown device” - this is not yet a reason to take your computer or laptop to a service center.

Let's try to solve this error ourselves.

First of all, try inserting the flash drive into another USB port. Perhaps your USB port is the one you always use stopped working for different reasons. If you work on a Personal Computer, problems most often occur when connecting to the USB port on the front panel of the computer. Therefore, to check, use only the port on the rear panel, which are built into Motherboard.

Another reason why the Computer or Laptop does not see the flash drive may lie in a system failure of the USB drivers.

To understand the driver, you can do the following:

Open the device manager; to do this, place the cursor on My Computer and press the right mouse button.

Click on Properties.

In the appeared Device Manager find USB Controllers Red arrow and click on check mark Black arrow.

Remove all USB devices (in Device Manager and reboot, all devices will be automatically detected and installed).

If this does not help, you need to reinstall the driver for the chipset. Thus, drivers for absolutely all controllers are regulated. This can also be done through Driver Pack Download. You can see how to use this program

Another common reason is – viruses. If you connected a flash drive to someone else’s computer (Internet cafe, institute, etc.), that is, in places where you can catch a virus, open the flash drive at home using Windows Explorer . If you find unknown files on it, delete .

In order to see all files on your flash drive (There are files that are not visible because the Windows system does not show hidden files by default). Therefore, you need to do the following.

In the Folder Options window that appears, click the View tab. IN additional parameters go down and click Show hidden files, folders and others…..Click OK.

Hidden files will appear on the flash drive. If the file appears autorun.inf or another file with the same extension *.inf or *.bat, Recycle (recycle bin), feel free to delete these files through the context menu (right-click on the file -> Delete ).

Another reason why the flash drive is not visible - Perhaps the settings have gone wrongBIOS, rarely, but it happens.

Go to Settings BIOS and check the parameter:

USB Legacy Support. The value should be Enabled…….How to login BIOS look .

If in Task Manager -> Universal Serial Bus Controllers – the flash drive is recognized as Unknown device. On the menu My computer and in Taskbars…

It’s not there, most likely the flash drive can be thrown away, the built-in electronics are burned out. The data is saved on it, the memory there is non-volatile, and if they are really needed, then specialists will be able to restore them using special programs, but it is expensive and you have to weigh the value of the lost information and the cost of recovery. Although you can do this yourself, which I will definitely write an article about .

Also keep in mind The service life of flash drives is not that long like hard drives and with daily use, the average lifespan is about a year. To reduce the cost of producing flash drives (have you noticed how prices for them have dropped sharply several times), developers are using various tricks, including making memory cells thinner - this reduces the number of write-rewrite cycles by 2-3 times, manufacturers they promise 5000-7000 times, but even this number can be reduced. The number of connections to the computer is also finite, usually 1000-2000 connections.

There are also such situations: when you try to write some information to a flash drive, you receive a message The USB device is not formatted, format it?.

This indicates that your flash drive has begun to “die” and storing important data on it is dangerous. Formatting in most cases helps to revive it and write files to it, but the next time you try to write, it (the flash drive) may again display such a message. This way you can format it before each attempt to transfer files.

If you receive this or a similar message, then it’s better to download a recovery utility, they are different for each brand of flash drive (Kingston, Transcend, A-Data) . Look for them on manufacturer's official website.

If the newly purchased flash drive is not immediately identified, then there are two options:

• Old drivers;
• Burnt out when first connected (This happens too).

In the first case, go to the website of the manufacturer of your motherboard, download new driver and install.

In the second - go back to the store, exchanged under warranty.

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What to do if the computer does not see the flash drive? Removable drives and HDDs should be extremely easy to use. But sometimes it happens that after connecting an external USB device to personal computer with the Windows operating system it is absolutely not recognized. If the computer does not see the flash card, this may be caused by problems with the partitions on the removable drive, using the wrong file system, faulty connectors, outdated drivers, or other reasons.

Below in the text, as well as at the end of the article, you can watch a video why the computer does not see the removable disk. Perhaps you will learn or understand more from it than from the article.

If the PC does not see the flash drive through “My Computer,” then, in the worst case, this may mean that the removable drive has failed and can no longer be restored. Pocket flash drives and large external HDDs work on identical principles, so the tips listed below apply to both types of devices.

What to do if the laptop does not see the flash drive? First of all, you need to find out whether the drive is visible in the disk management manager. Windows Explorer should automatically detect a removable device when it is connected via USB. Insert the disk into the slot. In some cases, to activate an external device, you must press a special button or lever on it. Heavy removable HDDs, unlike flash drives, can even be connected to the mains using a separate power cable, so the computer may not see the external drive if it is turned off.

Now you need to open the Disk Management tool. To do this, press the key combination Win + R, enter diskmgmt.msc in the line that appears and confirm with Enter. Now we can see the external drive in the management window. It should appear here even if it has no partitions.

If you see a device here that is unreadable, then you can immediately begin formatting it so that Windows Explorer and various devices could access it. If the netbook does not detect the flash drive, then move on to the next section, in which we will try to determine why the drive is not recognized.

Now we need to somehow get Windows Explorer to recognize the external drive. It may not be recognized due to a hardware problem related to the computer's USB port. Others possible reasons There may be incorrectly installed drivers or a physical breakdown of the flash drive.

What to do when the computer does not see the flash drive? First, you need to disconnect the drive from one USB port and try connecting it to another. If the removable disk works in the new slot, this means that the problem was a malfunction of the previous one. In case you are using a USB extension cable, try disconnecting it and connecting the USB flash drive directly to your computer. Such cables sometimes cannot provide the removable device with enough power to operate.

Driver problems

If Windows 7 does not see the flash drive in Disk Management, even after you have connected it to another connector on the laptop, then the problem may be with the flash drive itself or with the PC. If there is another computer nearby, you should try connecting the drive to it to see if it detects it. If a flash drive refuses to work on several computers, then it has most likely become obsolete and must be disposed of. But before making such a sad conclusion, you definitely need to check whether the removable device appears in the disk management window on other computers.

If the drive works on other PCs, or you do not have additional computers at hand that can be used, you need to check that the installed drivers are up to date. This is done using the device manager. To open it, press the Win + R key combination, enter devmgmt.msc in the line that opens and confirm with Enter.

In the list of devices that appears, you need to carefully check all drives for the presence of an icon in the form of a yellow exclamation mark. If you were able to detect such a symbol, then the problem lies with the drivers. Right-click on the device with the yellow exclamation mark, select “Properties” and look at the error message. It should help you solve the problem, as you can copy it into a Google search to find reviews from other users who have encountered a similar problem.

Problems like these can be difficult to fix. If the computer does not see the drive relatively recently, you can try running System Restore. But the best way is to use the "Update Driver" button to install latest version necessary software. You can try clicking “Roll Back Driver” in the hope that its previous version will work. You can also use the “Delete” button to make the external device disappear from the system’s field of view until the computer is restarted. It also happens that when Windows is restarted, the flash drive suddenly becomes working.

Partitioning and formatting

If the computer does not recognize the USB flash drive, then the disk management tool can be used to fix partition and file system problems. If you see that the disk is partitioned and full of unallocated space, then you can create a new partition on it. Thanks to this, Windows and other operating systems will be able to work with the flash drive.

Right-click inside the unallocated space, select “New Simple Partition” and follow the further instructions of the program. If the drive is divided into parts, but still does not appear, you need to check whether a specific drive letter is assigned to it. Typically this should happen automatically, but in some cases manual entry may be necessary. Right-click on the removable disk partition, select “Change letter” and enter any free letter. For example, you can write “G:”, and in the future the drive on the computer will be called that way.

If the disk is partitioned, but XP does not see the flash drive, then it is not a fact that the partition was done using the correct file system. For example, a flash drive can be formatted using ext4 for Linux (Linux) or HFS Plus from Mac (Mac). In this case, Windows 10 does not see the flash drive because it is not familiar with such a system. You need to reformat the drive using NTFS or FAT32. Thanks to this, Windows will be able to recognize the flash memory. To reconfigure a partition, right-click on it, click “Format” and select the desired file system.

Please note that this will delete all files on the drive. It makes sense to first connect the flash drive to a Linux or Mac device to copy the data. If you can't connect a removable drive to devices such as a DVD player or TV, the reason may be the NTFS file system. The above technique only works with FAT32.

Today, USB is one of the most common data transfer protocols between a computer and a connected device. Therefore, it is very unpleasant when the system does not see devices connected to the corresponding connector. Especially many problems arise if interaction with a keyboard or mouse occurs on a PC via USB. Let's figure out what factors cause this problem and determine methods to eliminate it.

In this article we will not discuss problems with the visibility of the device associated with its inoperability, because in this case this equipment should be replaced or repaired. The article will concern cases where the problem is caused by malfunctions or incorrect settings of the system or PC hardware. In fact, there can be many reasons for such a malfunction, and each of them has its own solution algorithm. We will talk about specific ways to eliminate this problem below.

Method 1: Microsoft Utility

In many cases, a specially created utility from Microsoft can solve the problem with the visibility of USB devices.

Method 2: "Device Manager"

Sometimes an issue with USB hardware visibility can be resolved by simply updating the configuration in "Device Manager".

1. Click "Start". Click "Control Panel".



2. Come in "System and safety".



3. Now open "Device Manager" by clicking on the corresponding inscription in the block "System".



4. The interface will launch "Device Manager". The problematic device in the list can either be displayed in a block "Other devices", or absent altogether. In the first case, click on the block name.



5. A list of devices will open. The problematic equipment may be indicated there either under its real name or listed as "USB Mass Storage Device". Click on its name with the right mouse button ( RMB) and select "Update configuration...".



6. Device search will be activated.



7. After it is completed and the configuration is updated, it is quite possible that the system will begin to interact normally with the problematic device.

If the required equipment is not displayed at all in "Device Manager", click on the menu item "Action" and then select "Update configuration...". After this, a procedure similar to that described just above will occur.

Method 3: Update or reinstall drivers

If the computer does not see only a certain USB device, then there is a possibility that the problem is due to incorrect installation of drivers. In this case, they need to be reinstalled or updated.

If this option does not help, then there is another method.

1. Click in "Device Manager" by device name RMB. Select "Properties".



2. Go to the tab "Driver".



3. Click on the button "Roll back". If it is not active, click "Delete".



4. Next, you should indicate your intentions by pressing the button "OK" in the dialog box that appears.



5. The procedure for removing the selected driver will be performed. Next, click on the position in the horizontal menu of the window "Action". Select from the list "Update configuration...".



6. Now the device name should appear in the window again "Device Manager". You can check its functionality.

If the system was unable to find the appropriate drivers or the problem was not solved after installing them, then you can use the services of specialized programs for searching and installing drivers. They are good because they will find matches on the Internet for all devices connected to the PC and perform automatic installation.

Method 4: Setting up USB controllers

Another option that can help solve the problem under study is setting up USB controllers. It is still performed in the same place, that is, in "Device Manager".

If this does not help, then you can reinstall the drivers for the group elements listed above "USB Controllers", using the same methods that were described in the presentation Method 3.

Method 5: Troubleshooting the port

It is possible that your computer does not see USB devices simply because its corresponding port is faulty. In order to find out if this is so, if your desktop PC or laptop has several USB ports, try connecting the equipment through a different connector. If this time the connection is successful, it means that the problem is in the port.

To resolve this problem, you need to open the system unit and see if this port is connected to motherboard. If it is not connected, then connect. If there is mechanical damage or other damage to the connector, then in this case it is necessary to replace it with a working version.

Method 6: Relieving Static Stress

In addition, you can try to remove static voltage from the motherboard and other PC components, which can also cause the problem we are describing.

There is also a possibility that the computer does not see the equipment due to the fact that many USB devices are already connected to it. The system simply cannot cope with such a load. In this case, we recommend disconnecting all other devices and connecting the problematic equipment to the back of the system unit if there is an appropriate connector there. Perhaps this recommendation will help solve the problem.

Method 7: Disk Management

Problem with the visibility of the connected USB device, in in this case exclusively flash drive or external hard drive, can be solved using the system's built-in tool "Disk Management".

1. Click Win+R. Enter in the field of the shell that appears:

   Apply by pressing "OK".



2. The tool interface starts "Disk Management". You need to monitor whether the name of the flash drive appears and disappears in the window when it is connected to the computer and disconnected. If nothing new happens visually at all, then this method will not suit you and you need to solve the problem using other methods. If changes occur in the list of connected drives when attaching new media, then you can try to solve the problem with visibility using this tool. If next to the name of the disk device there is an inscription "Not distributed", then click on it RMB. Next, select "Create a simple volume...".



3. Will start "Simple Volume Creation Wizard...". Click "Further".



4. Then a window will open where you need to specify the volume size. Since in our case we need the volume size to be equal to the size of the entire disk, then click here too "Further" without making changes.



5. The next window requires you to assign a letter to the media. In the corresponding field, select a character that differs from those letters that are already assigned to other drives in the system. Click "Further".



6. The following settings window opens. Here in the field "Volume Label" You can enter a name that will be assigned to the current volume. Although, this is not necessary, since you can leave the default name. Click "Further".



7. The next window will provide a summary of all the data entered in the previous steps. To complete the procedure, just click on the button "Ready".



8. After this, the volume name and status will appear opposite the media name "Fixed". Next click on it RMB and select “Make partition active”.



9. The computer should now see the flash drive or external hard drive. If this does not happen, then restart your PC.

There are situations when when opening a tool "Disk Management", the volume that belongs to the flash drive already has the status "Good". In this case, there is no need to create a new volume, but only those manipulations that are described starting from point 8 need to be performed.

If, when opening the tool "Disk Management" you see that the disk is not initialized and has a single volume that is not allocated, this means that, most likely, this drive is physically damaged.

Method 8: Setting up the power supply

You can solve the problem with the visibility of USB devices by making some manipulations in the power settings. This method especially often helps when using laptops that interact with connected equipment via the USB 3.0 protocol.

1. Go to "Control Panel" and then to the section "System and safety". We discussed how to do this during analysis. Method 2. Go here by position "Power supply".



2. In the window that opens, find the current power plan. There should be an active radio button next to its name. Click on the position "Setting up a power plan" near the named position.



3. In the shell that appears, click “Change advanced settings...”.



4. In the window that appears, click "USB Settings".



5. Click on the inscription "Temporary shutdown option...".



6. The specified option will open. If the value is specified there "Allowed", then you should change it. To do this, click on the indicated inscription.



7. From the drop-down list, select "Forbidden" and then click "Apply" And "OK".

Now you can check whether USB devices will work on this PC or whether you need to move on to other ways to solve the problem.

Method 9: Eliminating the virus

We should not exclude the possibility that the problem with the visibility of USB devices arose as a result of a virus infection of the computer. The fact is that some viruses specifically block USB ports so that they cannot be detected using an antivirus utility connected from a flash drive. But what to do in this situation, because if the standard antivirus missed the malicious code, then it is now of little use, and you cannot connect an external scanner for the above reason?

In this case, you can scan the hard drive with an anti-virus utility from another computer or use a LiveCD. There are quite a few programs designed for these purposes, and each of them has its own nuances of operation and management. But there is no point in going into detail about each of them, since most of them have an intuitive interface. The main thing when detecting a virus is to follow the prompts that the utility displays. In addition, our website has a separate article dedicated to such programs.

There are quite a few ways to restore the visibility of USB devices in Windows 7, but this does not mean that all of them will be effective in your particular case. Often you have to try many options before you find suitable way solutions to the problem that has arisen.

Read, what to do if Windows does not display the connected device. How to restore functionality to such a device if this is the reason. A flash drive or any other USB drive should be automatically detected by the computer and displayed in Explorer and the “This PC” folder after connecting to the USB port.

Content:

Diagnosis of the problem

The first thing you need to do if the connected USB drive is not displayed in the Windows file manager, you need to check the tool Disk management.

To open Disk management in Windows 8/10, right-click on the menu Start and select "Disk Management". In Windows 7, press the Windows key + R key combination to open the dialog box "Run" and enter the command in it diskmgmt.msc.

Check the list of drives in the window Disk management and find the USB drive that is not detected. It should appear here even if it is not in the folder "This computer", and match in size. Sometimes it is defined as "Removable device", but not always.

If you do not see your disk or flash drive even in Disk Management, then try the following:

• Turn on the disk, if there is such a function. Some external hard drives have a separate power cable or are turned on using a separate key dedicated to this.
• Connect the device to another USB port. Disconnect the flash drive from this USB port and connect it to another. Perhaps one of the USB ports on your computer has failed.
• Connect the device to your computer without a USB hub. If the flash drive is connected to the computer via an extension cord or USB hub, try disconnecting it from it and connecting it directly to the computer. Perhaps the reason is in the hub.
• Try another computer. Connect the flash drive to the USB port of another computer and see if it is recognized by it. If the device is also not detected by another computer, then most likely the problem lies with it.

Solution

If the problem options described above do not apply to your case, then your problem can most likely be solved using one of the methods described below. Depending on what you find in Disk Management, there are options for solutions to the problem that has arisen with identifying an external storage medium.

If Windows sees the disk, but cannot read it, then this means that it has a file system that it does not support. In this case, the operating system will prompt you to format the disk before using it. But don't rush to do it! This will destroy all your data.

If other computers see the flash drive, but yours doesn’t

If other computers detect your USB drive, but yours does not, then most likely there is a problem with the device drivers.

To check this, open Device Manager and look for Disk devices And USB controllers. Look to see if these sections contain devices marked with a yellow exclamation mark. If there is such a device, right-click on it and select Properties. The properties will contain information about the error and driver status.

To fix the driver problem, right-click on the device, select Properties / Driver / Update.

If the disk is visible in Disk Management

If the disc is visible in Disk Management, but it does not have a letter, then it is for this reason that it may not be displayed in Windows Explorer. In order for the system to start displaying it in Explorer, such a drive must be assigned a letter.

To do this, right-click on it and select "Change drive letter or drive path". If there is no such item in the pop-up menu, this may be due to the absence or unsupported file system type of the storage medium.

In the menu that opens, you will see that the drive does not have a letter assigned - assign it. To do this, select Add / / Ok.

If the disk is visible in Disk Management, but it is not allocated

If the disc is visible in Disk Management, but it is not distributed, which means that it is not formatted. In order for such a disk to become operational, right-click on it and select "Create Simple Volume".

Select the maximum suggested partition size and assign a drive letter suggested by the system. After this, the disk will be normally detected by the system and ready for use.

If the disk is visible in Disk Management but cannot be formatted

If for some reason the disk cannot be formatted, then to restore its functionality, you can completely erase it and then re-create the partition.

Note. As a result of such manipulation, all data from the disk (as well as flash drives or memory cards) will be permanently deleted. Therefore, worry about their safety in advance - scan the disk or flash drive using Hetman Partition Recovery, and save your data in a convenient place.

To clean the disk, open Command line as administrator and clean it up using the command diskpart – "clean".

There are two main reasons why a computer may not see a flash drive: hardware and software. In the first case, the problem is in the equipment, i.e. physical. In the second case, setting up the Windows operating system will help. Everything described also applies to memory cards, external hard drives and any other USB storage devices. Next, select your problem option.

I insert the flash drive and nothing happens

Typically, flash drives have an LED indicating that it is working. If the LED used to light up, but now it doesn’t, this means that the device is not receiving power. In any case, if nothing happens at all, there is no specific sound when connecting a flash drive, you have several options:

• Move the flash drive to another USB port;
• Move the flash drive to the USB port behind system unit;
• Insert the drive directly into your computer or laptop, without using any extension cords or USB hubs.

Determine whether the reason is in the USB ports or in the flash drive itself:

• Insert the drive into another computer or smartphone via an OTG adapter (the phone must support OTG);
• Connect any other USB device to make sure the ports are working.

Now let me explain, some ports may not work, simply because they were previously burned or the contacts there were damaged. Look into them, if you can see dirt and debris, then blow them thoroughly. Then, if there is a power overload on the USB port, it will not work. Moreover, in order to “put it in order” you need to completely de-energize the computer by unplugging the cable from the outlet for 1 minute. The laptop needs to be turned off and the battery removed for 1 minute.

Overcurrent occurs when many devices are connected via USB or one, but consumes a lot of energy, for example, a smartphone on charge, a fan, a humidifier, a heating device or a table lamp.

Further, the USB sockets on the front panel of the system unit may not be connected to the motherboard. For them to work, you need to open the cover of the system unit and connect the wires from the front panel to the corresponding pins on the motherboard. You can follow the prompts on the motherboard itself or download the instructions for your model on the Internet.

Your particular flash drive may not work with hubs and USB extension cables, but more often such confusion happens with external hard drives. They are very demanding on the quality of cable and power. Bad cables conduct little current and a voltage drop occurs.

If the USB ports generally do not work, then check whether they are enabled there. In different versions of BIOS and UEFI, the setting for enabling/disabling USB ports will be in different places, you need to go through the menu, usually this is the item "Advanced -> USB Configuration". You need to switch the “USB 2.0 Controller” and “USB 3.0 Controller” (if any) property to “ Enabled»:

Problem with controller drivers

If the indicator on the flash drive lights up, but the computer does not see it, then the problem may be in the drivers, or rather in their absence. Despite the fact that many write about this problem as a carbon copy, the problem with drivers only happens on old computers with Windows XP, or vice versa, on new hardware on which the old version of Windows 7 was installed. Basically, drivers for USB are standard and work by default "out of the box". However, the drivers could have broken due to a system failure or virus attack. Let's check:

• Opening "Device Manager"(write in the search bar of the Start menu);
• Revealing "USB Controllers" and delete all “USB Mass Storage Device”;
• Revealing "Disk devices" or "Other devices" and remove the drive by the name of the flash drive or “USB storage device”
• Menu “Actions -> Update hardware configuration”.

These steps will not update, but will help fix driver failure. It is important that in the “USB Controllers” branch there should not be devices with a yellow exclamation mark or with the name “Unknown Device”. In this case, you need , automatically. The DriverHub program can install missing drivers and update existing ones. This resolves the conflict between drivers for USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports. Let me remind you that USB 3.0 ports are characterized by increased current, speed, and they are blue.

The flash drive is detected, but it is not visible in Explorer

This means that the sound of connecting a flash drive was heard, a removable media icon appeared in the system tray (near the clock), but the Flash drive is not detected in “My Computer”. In the very simple case, the drive letter for the flash drive was not assigned. Press “Win ​​+ R” and write:

Find the flash drive in the window "Disk Management", the easiest way to determine it is by size. Mine is 8GB, it’s a little less than the real ones - 7.46 GB. My drive is called “SMBB”, you can see that there is no drive letter next to the name. All other disks have letters, so they are visible in “My Computer”, but the flash drive is not. At the same time, the file system is determined, here it is “FAT32”.

To assign a drive letter:

• Right-click and select "Change drive letter or drive path";
• Click the “Add” button;
• Select any drive letter, for example “ E»;
• Check that your flash drive should now appear normally in Explorer.

If the file system is not FAT32 or NTFS, then your version of Windows cannot work with it. To save the data, you need to copy it on the computer where the flash drive works normally, then you can format the disk on a new computer. If this is not possible, then for any case there is a solution on the Internet.

It’s bad if the file system is not determined in any way, the “Unknown” label is displayed or "Not initialized" or one section is able "Not distributed". This means that the media will have to be formatted. This happens when there are system failures during data recording, unsafe removal of the flash drive from the laptop, incorrect or incomplete formatting, virus attacks, or faulty flash memory. To safely remove removable media, click on the device icon in the system tray and select "Eject Mass Storage Device (device name)":

If the information that should be on the drive is important, then formatting will not work; first you need. For a new flash drive, Windows will prompt you to format it, then you will see the message “You need to format the disk in the drive... before you use it.”

FORMATTING DESTROYS ALL DATA!

To format a disk in the Disk Management window, right-click on the flash drive and select "Format":

• We write any name (volume label);
• I recommend setting the file system NTFS, this is a more reliable system than FAT32;
• Cluster size, Quick format, Compression of files and folders – leave them at default.

If you see the alert “This is the active partition of this disk... the data will be deleted...”, this means that your flash drive was bootable, just agree. After formatting, check whether the drive letter is assigned.

Other errors, freezes, "Insert disk"

The following steps will help the computer see the flash drive if one of the points applies:

• Drivers are installed and working;
• A new device is detected, but the flash drive does not appear in “My Computer”;
• A message appears like "USB device not recognized", "Insert disk" , "Error 43 / Error 43" or "Access is denied", especially in Windows XP;
• When connecting a flash drive, Windows freezes, especially in Windows XP 😊.

This is a sign of a cluttered system; many USB devices have been connected previously, and each time the device is connected, a driver is installed. Even when you insert the same flash drive, but into a different USB port, another copy of the driver is installed and entries are created in the Windows registry. This problem especially manifests itself when updating older operating systems to Windows 10 and Windows XP. We need to clear all previous records. installed devices, there is a program for this called USB Oblivion.

The program does not require installation, we launch it from the archive:

• USBOblivion32.exe – if you have 32-bit Windows ();
• USBOblivion64.exe – for x64 version of Windows.

Next, you need to remove all flash drives, memory cards and external hard drives from the computer, then right-click on the file to be launched and select "Run as Administrator". In the program, check the following boxes:

• Carry out real cleaning (otherwise it will only show what would have happened);
• Save .reg file undo;
• “Restart Windows” or “Restart Explorer” (if that doesn’t help, then reboot yourself).

Click "Cleanup" and wait for the process to remove old drivers to complete. During the cleaning process, a Windows restore checkpoint will be created, thanks to it you will be able to go to the moment before launching USB Oblivion. A “reg file” will also be saved, i.e. deleted registry branches. To restore the registry to its previous state, you simply need to run the “.reg” file and agree to make changes to the Windows registry.

There is a simpler program, just download and run the “.exe” file as Administrator, in accordance with the bitness of your operating system:

After clearing the registry of old driver instances in any way, just insert the USB flash drive and see how it is now detected.

Error logging into flash drive, viruses

Let's say there is a drive letter, you try to open the drive in Explorer, but you get an error "Removable media not found", "Application not found" or "Access denied". This is a sign of virus infection. The virus writes the file “autorun.inf” to the root of the disk, which is automatically executed by Windows when the root folder is opened, and there is a virus there.

However, you can open such media in Explorer. Just in “My Computer” do not double-click with the left mouse button, but right-click and select “Open”. This way you will see the files, but now you definitely need .

Checking for errors in the file system

If Explorer cannot open the disk, or the root folder opens but the data cannot be read, then we will check the integrity of the file system. This is especially true for FAT and FAT32 file systems. All versions of Windows have a built-in disk scanning utility:

• In “my computer”, right-click on the flash drive and select “Properties”;
• On the “Service” tab, click the “Check” button;
• If a warning appears about the safety of the data, click “Restore” in response.

In Windows XP and Windows 7 there are the following checkboxes:

• Automatically correct errors;
• Checking and restoring damaged sectors takes a long time; a full check of memory cells can be skipped.

I recommend checking for errors, even if the program says that checking is not required, it will not take much time. Before scanning, you must save and close open files, otherwise your changes will be lost.

If all else fails

It will be useful to know that older laptops do not see flash drives larger than 32 GB, Google your model. Also, problems with the contacts of the key fob are possible, even if the indicator is on. A bad contact responsible for data transmission prevents information from being read from a flash drive. A faulty drive can be attributed to service center, subject to the value of the information, but it’s easier to buy a new one.

Install the latest Windows updates. For Windows XP, it is very important to install the Service Pack 3 update. Here are some of the fixes for working with USB flash drives that were released in Windows updates XP:

1. KB925196 - fixed errors that appear in the fact that the computer does not detect the connected flash drive or iPod;
2. KB968132 - fixed errors where when connecting several USB devices in Windows XP they stopped functioning normally;
3. KB817900 - The USB port stopped working after removing and reinserting the flash drive;
4. KB895962 - USB flash drive stops working when the printer is turned off;
5. KB314634 - the computer sees only old flash drives that were connected before and does not see new ones;
6. KB88740 - Rundll32.exe error when inserting or removing a flash drive;
7. KB871233 - the computer does not see the flash drive if it has just been in sleep or hibernation mode;
8. KB312370 (2007) - USB 2.0 support in Windows XP.

In this article, I examined the real reasons for the unreadability of flash drives, memory cards, external hard drives and other USB devices. Describe your problem in the comments, I will try to help.